Possible Basement Damages After Low-Temperature Winters

The winter season being well in motion for at least a few more weeks is a blessing for folks who love the snow. It can immediately become a bane, however, as soon as it passes and you realize that the low temperature inflicted damages to your basement.

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That is too big of a mess to handle for anyone, without a doubt. The foundation of the house is there as well, and it won’t be exempted from the havoc that winter may cause.

Possible Basement Damages

While the season is identified as cold, in general, the temperature fluctuates more often than not. It affects the sources of water in and around your home by enabling the liquid molecules to contract and expand each time. Here are the probable issues that it can impose:

Forming Foundation Cracks

Think of what your home’s framework comprises. Apart from the wood, cement, or steel, some pipes extend to other parts of the house.

The thing with this plumbing system is that it does not come freeze-proof. As you’ve read earlier, water molecules can change their sizes at different temperatures. If the tubes are merely attached outside the foundation when its content becomes freezes and unfreezes, everything will be fine. You can replace any destroyed piping in a heartbeat without it causing extra destruction. However, in case they are within the walls, then you may see the cement cracking. If left uninspected, it may weaken the base of your residence over time.

Widening Existing Cracks

Experts suggest pushing snow away from the house whenever you try to pile it neatly. It isn’t because the ice can cover the beauty of your humble abode. It’s more because there may be little cracks on the basement’s walls and foundation that you cannot see.

Water can seep through even the tiniest gaps, you know. It can evaporate from the cracks during the summer, yet it remains frozen there once wintertime arrives. That is a type of risk that you should not ever take a gamble with since you may find even bigger breaks in no time. For sure, it may result in needing to repair other parts of the house, too.

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Causing Spring Leaks

The end of the winter season is the beginning of spring, the time when heavy rains fall. Sadly, it is also around this period when the downpour comes, and the snow melts almost at the same time.

Simply imagine how much water can be produced by these phenomena together. Any snow on your roof will drop to the ground as well. It may not seem like a flood on your yard, but that’s what’s extra bothering. It entails that the soil already absorbed the excess water, thus letting it travel to the basement undetected.

You can prevent spring leaks from happening by having the area checked and waterproofed before the season changes.